Michael Jeck’s commentary for Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is one of the most intense and insightful dialogues for any director or film ever. Criterion hit a homerun when they hired this guy.

You'll probably need to rewind often or listen to it a few times to digest it all. Film students studying Kurosawa should look for this track first when doing a paper or presentation. A lot of his methods and continuing motifs are exhibited in this film, and Jeck informs everything on and off the screen.

I would just like to add my complete agreement with the two people above me. Michael Jeck is a genius. If there was anything left out of this commentary, I sure don't know what it would be. Criterion commentary are always very authoritative and interesting, but Jeck takes it to new heights. If there was any negative at all, it would be that it sounds very rehearsed, as though Jeck was teaching you and there would be a quiz later. But all in all, maybe the best ever.

This is the best commentary I have heard yet. This commentary is a textbook on filmmaking. It gives great insight into the making of the movie, the framing and compositions that Kurosawa used, and other techniques employed by Kurosawa such as use of camera lenses, lighting, and weather. You will not learn more about a movie from the commentary more than this one. GO LISTEN NOW!!

I agree with the above reviews and would like to add that Jeck dives right in analyzing the look of the film and how it informs what we are seeing. He also points out how the composition of certain shots illustrates Akira Kurosawa’s pity and contempt that he has for the villagers – something that he shares with Toshiro Mifune’s character. Jeck does a fantastic job dissecting this film without being too dry and academic about it, delivering a very accessible track.

Jeck's commentary stands as one of the major milestones of commentary history, and is by far one of the most fun and informative tracks out there. It is the track that set the standard, and for good reason; Jeck never stops giving great information about the film, and never does he deteriorate into talking about one of his own theories. Instead, it more closely resembles the "film school in a box" that Criterion (in its Laserdisc days) was aiming for.

The track starts off with a brief summary of Akira Kurosawa’s career at the time that he made the movie, the state of samurai cinema and the historical period in which the film is set. The participants all do a good job analyzing the filmmaker’s style and the film’s themes but it does get a little fawning at times (we know this film is a classic, we don’t need to be constantly reminded). That being said, this is still a very informative track.

While this is a concept, the first attempt at it seems to fall flat on its face in a hurry. Jeck's commentary looks all the better as each of these men and women drone on about whatever they happened to have written a paper on once, and the final forty minutes with our Joan Mellon make you wonder if she's actually watching the film with us or rather reading from her favorite essay on the sociology of Kurosawa's films. Unfortunately, she manages to drone over one of the best action sequences in history, only referring to the technical aspects maybe once or twice, spending the rest of the time making her own points that she has for so long waited to make.